UK DIY News

The Garden Centre Group review of H1 2012

The Garden Centre Group has published an update relating to business during the first half of the 2012 trading year:

Overview:The Garden Centre Group is the undisputed market leader in the garden centre industry, operating 129 garden centres throughout England and Wales and taking a 17% market share of the sector.

The group also runs 95 highly successful restaurants within its centres.

Additionally, 450 concessions throughout the group offer a diverse range of complementary products to customers and provide a stable income stream to the group.

The company has a steadfast customer base and an ever-growing Gardening Club loyalty scheme. The club was launched in 2009 and now has more than 2.5m members.

Our business strategy is to continue to strengthen our horticultural credentials, build our brands and increasingly weather-proof the business through investment in restaurants and concessions.

H1 2012:After a strong start to the year, the wettest summer for more than 100 years has had an unavoidable impact on garden centre sales. However, the success of our restaurants across the group has helped mitigate the shortfall. Centres with new children's play areas have performed exceptionally well. Concession income has also remained strong with new concessions taking additional space on our centres.

We have opened a new plant centre and shop at Westonbirt Arboretum, working in partnership with the Forestry Commission and the arboretum itself.

We have also launched an e-commerce platform, including an innovative 'Click & Collect' plant service which has proven highly successful and popular.

Our new magazine 'The Gardener' was launched in March and has been mailed to our Gardening Club members, generating very positive feedback.

Corporate Social Responsibility:The Garden Centre Group continues to support a nominated 'charity of the year', raising significant sums of money on a national basis. Furthermore, each centre supports various charities and causes within their local communities, such as schools, hospices and rescue centres.